First off, what is LaunchKey? What is your one‐sentence company pitch? “LaunchKey is a technology platform that has eliminated the need for passwords.”

What problem is LaunchKey trying to solve? “The driving force behind LaunchKey has always been to get rid of passwords. But we knew when we started that the technology needed to be one that could secure devices or things, so we built it in a way that could do both.” -Geoff

What value proposition does LaunchKey offer over competitors? “Better security, more capabilities and a superior user experience” – Devin

How did you become part of the LaunchKey team? “Yo and I met at Vegas Jelly which was a tech meetup that used to happen at a coffee shop. Devin was also active at the Jelly, but we didn’t meet him until he joined our team at Startup Weekend. Yo and I didn’t know we were even going to Startup Weekend until 2 days before it started.” – Geoff

What was the hardest thing for you to overcome at Startup Weekend? “Trying to build a functioning application with people I’ve never worked with before was a bit daunting. You have to assign out roles and really place trust that the other pieces are being done plus regular check-ins to keep track of pace.” – Yo

Team makeup ‐ then and now? “Well then it was just the 3 of us being scrappy for 54 hours. Now we have an incredibly talented team of 14 people. We have more Python Developers, Mobile Developers, an Embedded Systems Engineer, and a Director of Business Development.” -Geoff

Any other Startup programs? (Digest, women, education, week?) “No, since Startup Weekend we have been in heads down mode building the platform and team.” – Devin

Has your startup had a “near death experience?” along the way? “<chuckle>Ha! We are a seed stage startup so we are always close to death” – Geoff

How long after Startup Weekend did it take LaunchKey to become fully functional? “It took us about 4 or 5 months to get funded, we all had to keep our day jobs until that happened” -Geoff

What are your short-term future challenges? Longer term? “Short-term is going to market. We have put in a lot of hard work building the technology, now we have to build a bigger customer base” – Geoff

“Long-term is meeting the demands of an ever changing technological landscape.” – Devin

Proudest achievement? “Building a legitimate solution to the biggest problem facing the online world. But…we take it personally when a breach happens at a company that isn’t our customer. We feel like we let them down by not getting our solution in front of them soon enough.” – Geoff

Timeline:

July 2012 – Pitched, built LaunchKey prototype, and won Startup Weekend Las Vegas

July 2012 – Company founded in Las Vegas

December 2012 – Initial investment led by Vegas Tech Fund, with participation including Ludlow Ventures and Prolific VC

January 2014 – 1st hire, lead mobile developer

March 2014 – 1st public version of LaunchKey mobile released

December 2014 – Venture Seed round of 3 million led by Metamorphic, with participation including Eniac Ventures, Crosslink Capital, and Pantera Capital.

January 2015 – Team expanded to 14

Employees: 14

Products shipped: LaunchKey Multi-Factor Authentication

Funding secured:

12/14 – $3 million venture seed led by Metamorphic, with participation from Eniac, Crosslink, Pantera

Sara SonnenSara is the Email Marketing Manager at Techstars. Previously, Sara was the Email Marketing Manager at UPGlobal before Techstars acquired the company in 2015. Sara graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Journalism and Business Administration from Washington State University.